


Camp Fallen Oak

by Welcome_to_yesterday



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Camping, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-01-16 13:27:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12343590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Welcome_to_yesterday/pseuds/Welcome_to_yesterday
Summary: Jeremy Dooley had a wonderful life. Great job, loving girlfriend, nice house. Then suddenly, he gets fired, dumped, and kicked out of his house, all in the same day. One drunken phone call later and he's signed himself up to be a counsellor at the summer camp he went to as a kid.What could go wrong?





	1. Welcome to Camp Fallen Oak

“How did I get myself into this?”  
Jeremy kept asking himself that question over and over as he sat on the rickety bus heading out of the city and towards the wilderness, where he was now having to spend his summer. The irony was that Jeremy knew exactly how he got himself into this mess. One absolutely soul-crushing day lead to him becoming best friends with a Jägermeister bottle and a drunken phone call was inevitable.  
The bus pulled to a holt and the doors swung open, kids immediately flooding off the bus and hurriedly meeting their friends. Jeremy held back, taking one last look at the faded yellow t-shirt in his hands before letting reality hit him.  
He clambered off the bus and glanced around, trying to find the only person he knew. Mainly to apologise for the drunken call but also to ask what the hell being a counsellor would entail.  
Suddenly, a face was in his, the other person crouching to meet his height. Their smile was huge and very overly friendly, Jeremy not appreciating the invasion of his personal space.  
“My, oh, my. Do my eyes deceive me? Has the infamous Jeremy Dooley returned to Camp Fallen Oak?”  
Oh, god. Jeremy was instantly taken back to his childhood summers spent at this camp and he recognised the face.  
“Miles Luna?” he questioned and the cheery man stepped back, flashing at grin at Jeremy.  
“Yes, indeed. That’s me! And I must say, Jeremy, you really haven’t changed at all. And I’m not talking about your height!” miles laughed and Jeremy just sighed.  
“How very original. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to find Jack to wrap my head around being a counsellor.”  
Just as Jeremy was about to walk around Miles, a hand slammed on his shoulders and brought him to a stop.  
“You’ll be wanting the head counsellor then, amigo. And that just so happens to be me. How about I take you on a quick tour of the camp before I give the yearly welcome speech?” Miles offered although it seemed that Jeremy had no way of getting out of it.  
He gave a begrudged sigh and Miles took that as a yes, ushering him further into the camp. Jeremy wondered how on earth he survived the half an hour long tour, Miles showing the mess hall, each of the camper cabins, the counsellor cabins, and finally the flag pole.  
The flag pole was now situated next to a stage like area, Jeremy guessing they had added it to easily give announcements to the ever-growing number of campers. Well, the number of campers this year seemed to be lacking.  
“Good morning, campers!” Miles greeted, Jeremy stood amongst the kids that gave murmurs of a response. Standing next to Miles were two men, wearing the same dull green counsellor shirt as he was. The man on the left was standing tall and proud, hands held behind his back like he was a damn soldier. His hair was slicked back without product, Jeremy unable to tell if it was blonde or brown. The man on the right looked more like he belonged in an AA meeting than a kid’s summer camp, tired eyes and tattoos being a…look.  
“It’s nice to see so many familiar faces. Now, I know it may look like we don’t have as many campers as usual and that’s because we struggled to get people to sign up for this year. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a bad summer. In fact, it’ll be even better! I’ll be coming around in the next few minutes to sign you all into your cabins and then you get to meet your counsellors.” The smile from Miles’ face never faded as he spoke, a big contrast to the bored look on the kids’ faces. “I also have the pleasure of introducing our new counsellor, Jeremy. He’ll be taking over Counsellor Ray’s cabin as he got into an unfortunate accident just before summer.”  
Once Miles was finished, he jumped down from the stage and, with clipboard in hand, started calling out names and handing out the garish yellow t-shirts.  
Through the process, Jeremy had learnt that the blonde one was Ryan and his cabin was the Barracudas. How fitting, a mean fish for a stern man. The shorter watched as Ryan made his group put on their shirts already, lined them up and then marched them off to the cabins.  
Jeremy then turned his attention to the other guy, his name Geoff. his actions were much less alert than Ryan’s, merely ushering his campers in the right direction of the Grizzly Bear cabin. Miles was then striding towards Jeremy, a small group of kids following behind.  
“So, kids, you’ve got Jeremy as your counsellor and you’ll be in the Platypus cabin,” Miles announced, pushing shirts to the kids after handing a green shirt to Jeremy.  
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” one of the kids cursed, bringing Miles’ and Jeremy’s attention to him.  
“Now, Michael, watch your language,” Miles scolded, the fiery redhead glaring at the man.  
“Miles, you’ve literally given us the worst cabin for like a third year in a row. Why is it always our group that get stuck with it? You do realise they call us the pussies, right?” Michael’s eyes were like flickering flames behind the frames of his glasses, Miles having to take a deep breath before speaking.  
“I put you all in the same cabin every year because I know you guys are all friends. Would you prefer I split you all up?” he asked and the group just gave a grumbled response of no. “Right, I suggest you show Jeremy to the cabin then and be nice.”  
The kids grabbed up their bags and started towards a rickety looking cabin, Jeremy trailing a little behind the group with Michael.  
“You’ve got a mouth like a sailor, kiddo,” he said, just trying to make conversation.  
“In this place, you gotta. It’s ruthless. Most of the other kids don’t hang out with us because we’re the special ones. I’ve got anger issues, Trevor is a constant nervous wreck, Gavin is an idiot, Lawrence is a nerd, and Elyse is just plain weird.”  
As Michael explained, he pointed to each kid individually and they soon enough reached the cabin.  
“Well, you guys seem fine, for now. You only have to put up with me this summer so don’t worry about it,” Jeremy said and his hand reached for the handle of the door. He pushed it open and squinted into the darkness, frowning as he stepped inside. Boy, was it a dump. But he wasn’t going to let it dampen his spirits too much, he still had to find Jack. “Okay, campers. First order of business. Claim your bunk, unpack your stuff, then make sure your wearing your shirt. Miles said we’re meeting at the mess hall for lunch so I’ll see you there.”  
Jeremy dumped his own bag on the single bed by the door, the kids slowly starting to do the same.  
“Are you just going to leave us here?” a voice stammered out and Jeremy turned to see Trevor. He was a lanky looking kid, long limbs and an oversized shirt that made him look like he was only skin and bones.  
“Well, I need to go find my friend, Jack,” Jeremy explained, swapping his shirt for the counsellor shirt.  
“Can we come with?” another voice piped up, this time Elyse.  
“I dunno…” Jeremy mumbled but Michael was already jumping down from his bunk above Gavin.  
“Come on, man. Miles will get his panties in a twist if he knows you’ve left us alone here. Plus, we actually know where Jack is.”  
Jeremy was ready to protest, put the kids in their place and show who was in charge. But five minutes later, he found himself in the mess hall. He was sat at a table, Jack across form him and the kids filling up the rest of the seats.  
“Why the hell did I get myself into this? Why did you let me get myself into this?” Jeremy questioned Jack, the man chuckling and brushing a hand down his apron.  
“Because you loved summer camp so much as a kid and wanted to help change the lives of other kids?” Jack teased, Jeremy giving him a deadpan look.  
“Not funny. Anyways, how did you- Elyse, no! No knives up our noses!” Jeremy had to stop his sentence to scold the girl, hand snatching the cutlery away from her and making a conscious decision to do the same with Michael’s whilst he was distracted by Gavin. Jack just laughed.  
“You’ve certainly got your hands full,”  
“No kidding,”  
“They’re good kids, Jeremy. You just need to get to know them a bit better.”  
General conversation rose, Jeremy trying to poke questions at the kids to learn more about them and, he must admit, Michael was spot on with his description of them all.  
Elyse was constantly lost in her own world, giggling at jokes even if they were about her. Gavin was rambling on about whatever he could, Michael teasing his accent as if they’d only just met. Lawrence was correcting anything they were saying, always pushing his glasses up his nose, and Trevor sat there quietly.  
The conversation soon died though as other campers filed into the mess hall along with Miles and then food was being served.  
“No, Elyse, seriously, no knives or forks up your damn nose,” Jeremy was again saying, not noticing when Miles sat himself down at the table.  
“How are we all getting along, campers?” he asked enthusiastically, arm reaching around Trevor who seemed to curl in on himself from the interaction.  
“As always, things are bloody wonderful,” Michael said, mocking Gavin’s accent and the boy squawked in reply.  
“Shut up, Michael!” he raised his voice and swatted at the redhead, his hand barely touching Michael’s arm and making him laugh.  
It raised a sigh from Miles who turned to Jeremy.  
“So, are you settling in well?” he asked and Jeremy gave a nod, swallowing his food before speaking.  
“Yeah, things are okay so far, I’m sure I’ll eventually get used to the insects, animals, lack of cleanliness, and the kids soon enough,” he joked and glanced to his group.  
“Hey, Jeremy, what job do you have?” Gavin suddenly asked. “Michael says you look like a police man, Elyse bets wrestler and Lawrence says that he thinks you’re a business man.”  
“No, I didn’t. I said office worker, its completely different. Plus, business man has a very narrow field. Office worker leaves it open to a large variety,” he explained himself and Jeremy chuckled softly.  
“Well, I don’t have a job right now but I used to work in a PR department of a company,” he said and Elyse smiled.  
“See guys, I was right,” she said triumphantly and Lawrence raised a brow.  
“Uh, no, you were way off. I was correct,” he said and Elyse frowned.  
“No, PR stands for Pro Wrestler, Lawrence. Everyone knows that.”  
Jeremy was about to interject as the argument continued but Michael rested a hand on his shoulder.  
“Leave them, Jeremy. It happens. A lot. Get used to it.”


	2. The Platypus Pirates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The groups all make flags for their teams

“Okay, campers, are we ready for our first activity?” Miles had sat himself at the table again, having returned from briefing the other groups. Jeremy gave Miles a questioning look, curious as to what they’d be doing. It seemed the camp had changed since he’d been there. Different group cabins had never been a thing and neither was separate camp counsellors.   
“Lemme guess, it’s same boring crap every year?” Michael droned, a dead-pan look on his face.   
“Language, Michael,” Miles scolded before resuming his words. “I’ve decided it’ll be best for me to join you guys as co-counsellor this year, since Jeremy is new, and our first activity is making our team flag.” A smile stretched across Miles’ face as he spoke, Lawrence and Michael both rolling their eyes.

“I love arts and crafts!” Elyse exclaimed, Jeremy glancing to her and frowning to see the food smeared across her cheek. He leaned over the table and handed her a napkin before turning his attention back to Miles, who was eagerly waiting to tell him something.  
“Now, Jeremy, things have changed around here and I guess now is the best time to explain, before it all gets crazy. The camp is now split into groups and this groups compete with each other all summer to see who can win the Fallen Oak Trophy,” Miles began before being interrupted again.  
“I don’t see a point in us even competing. We never win. It’s always the Barracudas,” Trevor mumbled, his fork poking at his mashed potatoes. The others muttered in agreement, Miles going to protest but Jeremy spoke first.

“Hey, chin up, kiddo. Each year is different, you don’t know if we’re going to win or not so how about we at least try?”   
“Last time we tried to win Michael broke the totem pole, Elyse ended up stuck in a tree, Lawrence got pushed into the lake, Trevor had his arm broken, and someone put bird poo in my shoes,” Gavin interjected, an angry looked point towards Jeremy.   
The counsellor went silent, glancing down at his food. He couldn’t imagine these kids hating every summer they came here. And even if that was the case so far then he was determined to put an end to it this year.  
“Well, as the leader of the Platypus cabin, I’m telling you that we are going to try. Not try and win. Try and have fun,” Jeremy announced, his loud voice causing other tables to snigger. “And if any of you campers have a problem with having fun then I guess you’ll just have a lousy summer.”  
It was now the campers that fell silent, a smile of hope on Miles’ face.   
“Maybe you’re right,” a voice mumbled and both adults did a double take to see that Trevor had straightened his posture and finally looked up from his food. “It sucks that we let the others ruin our summer. Why can’t we just have fun with what we do?”  
“I hate to say it, but you have a point, Trevor,” Michael said, using his fork to point at the lanky boy. The comment brought a grin to Trevor and soon enough the whole table had agreed to at least try to have fun. 

“This is amazing! You guys finish up here and then we can all head over to the Activity’s Den,” Miles said as he stood, practically pirouetting with joy as he left the table.  
“I did not expect you guys to actually go along with that,” Jeremy admitted, Trevor shrugging as he resumed the viewing of his plate.  
“You’re the first counsellor, besides Miles, to even bother speaking up to us. Thought we’d give you a chance,” he flashed a smile at Jeremy before standing with the others to empty their plates. 

It wasn’t long before they were all sat around another table, various craft materials laid out in front of them along with a large rectangle of white fabric. The other two teams immediately started on their flag designs, but Jeremy wanted a different approach.  
“Alright, guys. We have to come up with flag designs for our team. Now, I know we’re the Platypuses but there’s nothing stopping us from doing whatever we want. Anyone have any ideas?”   
The kids stayed quiet, barely mumbling under their breaths as small fingers fiddled with pens and paint brushes.  
“Anyone?” Jeremy pressed before hearing a gentle voice.  
“What about like a pirate flag?” Trevor had suggested, Lawrence rolling his eyes.  
“What has that got to do with platypuses?” he questioned, Trevor just shrugging his shoulders and closing his mouth.  
“No, wait he could be on to something,” Michael spoke up, catching Jeremys attention. “We could do a pirate flag like a Jolly Roger but who says it has to be a human skull and cross bones?” The redhead smirked, and Gavin’s eyes lit up along with Elyse.

“We could be the Platy Pirates!” the British boy squawked, and Elyse laughed.  
“You could be our parrot, Gav,” she teased which brought laughter from the group.   
Jeremy smiled as he watched them joke together, glad to see they had not only come up with a genius idea but also something that was fun too. He was brought back to reality when an eyepatch was stretched over his face, the elastic snapping him.  
“And you can be Captain Greenbeard,” Michael said proudly, “even though the green in on the top of your head, it doesn’t matter.”

And so, the group began the design for the flag, and various other things which were probably not in Miles’ plan. Michael and Trevor had teamed up to work on the flag itself, Lawrence taking it upon himself to deign them a pirate ship and assign other crew titles. Meanwhile, Elyse and Gavin were happily making ridiculous props to just add to the effect. However, the smiles and laughter came crashing down when another camper glanced over to the table.

“What on earth are they doing? It looks terrible.”

The comment dug sharp like a knife, the table speaking only above a whisper and even trying to cover things with their arms. Jeremy was quick to notice and turned his attention to where it came from. The barracudas, of course. He looked to Ryan, furrowing his brows to see that the counsellor hadn’t batted an eyelid at the obvious insult.   
“Uh, excuse me?” he called out, catching the attention of the man.  
“Yes?” Ryan question, obviously annoyed to be disturbed by someone, Jeremy guessed, he saw as below him.  
“I’d appreciate if you were doing your job and looking after your campers. One of just made a comment that my team’s flag looks terrible,” he said pointedly, eyes set in a glare. Yet the man only glanced at the flag himself before chuckling.  
“Well, he wasn’t lying.”

Jeremy’s blood began to boil, and he rose to his feet, the only thing stopping him from approaching the man and punching his face being the small hand grabbing his t-shirt. Jeremy’s actions only seemed to make Ryan laugh more.  
“Oh, what are you going to do? Are you going to make me walk the plank, Captain Schmuck?” he taunted and before Jeremy could swing, a voice spoke up from the table.

“Knock it off, Ryan.”

Jeremy and Ryan both looked to the source of the interruption, Jeremy having to blink a few times. Was that Trevor at the Barracuda table? He turned to see that Trevor was the one clutching his shirt. Wait, who was this mystery kid?

“Alfredo, what have I told you before?” Ryan scolded, and the brunette rolled his eyes.  
“To not speak to my superiors with disrespect,” he droned, and the blonde crossed his arms over his chest.  
“And what happens when you misbehave?”  
“You get a punishment,” Alfredo sighed and pushed himself to his feet as if he knew the drill and had been through this a thousand times.  
“Good, now give me fifty,” Ryan spoke, and the boy gasped.  
“Fifty? Its usually just twenty!” he protested and then Ryan stood, easily towering the 14-year-old.  
“Its twenty for a first time, Alfredo. This is not the second but third time you’ve misbehaved today. So, drop and give me fifty.”

The other could only watch on as the boy begrudgingly lowered himself and began to do fifty push ups, Trevor’s yanking arm finally pulling Jeremy to sit down again.  
“Just ignore the comment,” he mumbled, and the kids nodded, resuming their activities. But Trevor’s gaze lingered on where Alfredo was previously sat.  
“You know him?” Jeremy whispered, and Trevor sighed.  
“Yeah, he’s my big brother,” he spoke whilst his had scribbled to colour in the flag. “He gets stuck in the Barracuda’s every year and he hates it. Ryan won’t let him switch though because he’s the fastest runner and the last part of the camp tournament is a race.”  
Hearing the explanation, it all clicked in Jeremy’s head. The similarities between the two were uncanny and, judging just by Alfredo’s physique and ability to do push ups so fast, he understood why Ryan would want such a strong player on his team. 

Once the boy was done, he stood up and brushed his hands on his jeans, Ryan then leading him outside. Jeremy could only assume it was to lecture him some more. During the rest of the crafting time, Alfredo had refused to join in with his team, but the other campers didn’t care as they just got on with it after Ryan had told them to ignore his childish behaviour. 

All three flags were eventually finished, and Miles marched the teams to the three flag poles that stood just behind a large scoreboard by the stage.  
“Now here is where we’ll keep track of points,” he explained whilst the counsellors, minus Jeremy, raised the flags on the poles so they fluttered proudly in the wind.   
The Grizzly Bears has a rather basic flag, but no one could deny that the bear painted on it wasn’t impressive. The Barracudas had the fish on theirs and even had a motto underneath that said something about hard work, Jeremy was unsure of what it actually said due to the distance. But when the Platypus’ flag was raised, it brought gasps of both shock and amazement from the crowd. 

“Okay, campers, after some careful consideration I have decided the best flag and thus the team that will receive the first ten points is…”  
Kids and counsellors alike held their breath with anticipation, Jeremy glaring to see Ryan’s smug look.  
“…The Platypus Pirates!” Miles loudly announced, Ryan’s jaw dropping as the kids jumped up and down in joy.  
“We did it! We won some points!” Michael cheered and the five of the group immediately tackled Jeremy into a hug.   
“See guys? We tried and, not only did we have fun but, we also won the first points. Keep up the good work,” Jeremy praised as he led his campers back towards the cabin. 

They all rambled with glee about their achievement, Trevor tugging on Jeremy’s shirt as they entered the cabin.  
“Thanks for being a cool counsellor,” he mumbled, and Jeremy just ruffled his hair, the kid ducking out of the way.  
“I’ll only be a cool counsellor as long as you guys are cool campers.”


	3. Scavenger Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The teams are set a new activity; a scavenger hunt. But things can never go right for Jeremy and his team.

The cheerful tune of a bugle blasted through speakers throughout the campsite, forcing campers and counsellors to clamber out of their cabins and into the mess hall for breakfast. Chatter was ripe in the hall, campers wondering what the next challenge would be and some even starting to make bets on who would win. 

As the Platypus cabin settled themselves at their usual table, an extra face seemed to be hovering about.   
“Alfredo, I’m fine,” Trevor had tried to rid of his brother, waving his hands at him to shoo him away.  
“I know, I know, I need to stop treating you like a little kid but it’s the only excuse I can use to not sit with the Barracudas,” he defended himself and pouted at his younger sibling. Trevor managed to hold his ground for a second before he was making space on the bench for the elder.

Jeremy glanced up from his breakfast to raise an eyebrow at the new face, Alfredo doing the exact same.  
“Oh, uh, Alfredo, this is our new counsellor, Jeremy. He’s really cool,” Trevor introduced them and they shared and swift hand shake before Alfredo was bombarded by the other younger campers.

“I heard Ryan is an evil monster,” Gavin stated, Elyse nodding in agreement.  
“Yeah, I heard that he once killed a camper,” she added which made Michael scoff and alfredo roll his eyes.  
“You little kids will believe anything. And I bet, by the way he’s laughing so hard, you believe anything that Michael says,” he replied, and the redhead stopped his laughter.  
“Sorry, Alfredo, but this little kid heard that story from someone else. I swear I didn’t make it up. I just don’t believe it,” he said proudly and crossed his arms over his chest, although a nudge from Jeremy made him resume his eating.

And so, breakfast carried on in a similar way, with the kids bothering Alfredo and Jeremy having to remind them that they were supposed to be eating. Once the plates were finally emptied and the tables were cleared, Miles gathered everyone at the flagpoles and stood on the stage to announce today’s activities.  
“Good morning, campers! It’s great to see you all with smiles on your faces today as I do think that today’s activity is one of the best ideas Jack has come up with.” The grin on his face never wavered, gesturing to Jack, who stood by his side. “Today is the first annual Camp Fallen Oak scavenger hunt!”  
The kids all shouted with delight, even Jeremy’s group having smiles on their faces.  
“Each team will have a list of items to gather. The first one to bring them all back here and put them in the box under your flagpole is the winner of fifty points. Second place gets thirty and last place will receive ten.”  
As Miles explained the rules, the campers chattered excitedly and a loud whistle from Jack brought them all back to attention.   
“Now, you have until 7pm tonight to get all those items. And, after dinner, we’ll be having this years first campfire. So, get excited!”  
Miles jumped down from the stage and began to hand a clipboard to each counsellor, coming to Jeremy last.

“Hey there, pirates,” he greeted, “Lets hope you have the same charisma as yesterday.”  
He handed the clipboard to Jeremy, noticing the yellow bandana around his neck.  
“Hey, where did you get that from? Didn’t know you were a bandana guy?” he questioned, and Jeremy just shrugged, and he let the kids look over the list of items.  
“It’s my old camp shirt from when I came here. Thought I’d wear it for good luck. And since I don’t exactly fit into it, I went with this.”

Suddenly feeling hands tugging at his shirt, Jeremy mumbled a goodbye to Miles and let his campers drag him to their first item. Gavin was rambling about nonsense and furiously stabbing at the list as Michael led the group to the kitchen, Jeremy only realising he should probably question what they were doing.  
“Wait, why the kitchen?” he asked, and Lawrence rolled his eyes.  
“Because where else are we supposed to find a spatula? Certain not in the forest,” he said, and Jeremy just went along with it. 

Jack happily let the group into the kitchen, the kids rummaging around to find what they needed. Gavin had himself buried in boxes of ingredients, Lawrence and Elyse taking on the drawers as Michael clambered on to Trevor’s shoulders to look through cupboards. Jack and Jeremy watched as they grew more frustrated, unable to find what they wanted.  
A quick cough from Jeremy brought their attention to their counsellor and their eyes all shone to see the spatula held in his hand. Michael was first to grab for it, leaping off Trevor and catapulting his small body at Jeremy. The counsellor, although surprised, caught him with only a small stumble backwards.  
“Jesus Christ, Michael!” he exclaimed as the redhead twisted his way out of Jeremy’s grip and over to Lawrence who was holding the clipboard.  
“We got it!” he yelled, Trevor wandering over and rubbing his now aching shoulders as Lawrence ticked the item off the list.

Before Jeremy could protest, he was again being dragged away by the campers. He shouted a goodbye to jack and continued to let the kids pull him throughout the camp.   
The day continued pretty much the same way, Jeremy simply following the kids and helping them find the items. With each return to the flagpoles, Gavin would sneak a peak at the other teams’ boxes. 

Towards the end of the day, the team were dropping off yet another item to the box but when Gavin went to the look at the other boxes he was shooed away.  
“Get out of here, loser.”   
“Yeah, get away from our box!”  
Gavin scurried back to his team, small figure immediately hiding behind Jeremy.   
“Well, well, well. I guess Jeremy’s campers must lack manners like he does,” a deep voice rumbled, and Jeremy turned to see Ryan, yet again.  
“He was just looking,” Jeremy defended the blonde, who poked his head out from behind his counsellor.   
Trevor glanced over the faces of the opposing team until he found his brother, giving a small smile and a wave.  
“Fair enough. But if I find out that any of our campers have stolen from our box and sabotaged us, then ill make them pay,” he growled and turned on his heel, ordering for his group to follow.

The others watched as they walked away but a soft smile formed on their faces as Alfredo broke from the group and neared them.  
“Hey guys, how’s it going?” he asked, and Michael snatched the clipboard from Lawrence, striding towards Alfredo to show their progress.  
“We’ve done a lot so far. There’s a few things we’re struggling with, but Trevor was just suggesting we take a break,” he explained.  
“God, a break sounds really good right now. Ryan has had us marching around all day for these items. Its tiring,” alfredo mumbled, and a lightbulb appeared above Jeremy’s head.  
“Why don’t you join us?” he suggested. “It’ll be nice for us all to have a break and I see no harm in you joining us.”  
“But what about Ryan?” he mused, and Trevor spoke up.  
“Well, Jeremy will protect you from Ryan. It’s what a captain does for his crew,” the boy muttered, and Jeremy nodded in agreement. 

After a conversation of deciding where to take a break, the group ended up in a small clearing in the forest, Michael and Gavin speaking about the times they’d hidden there to get away from boring activities. Jeremy settled himself on a tree stump, Alfredo and Trevor sitting on the ground with the younger of the two picking at the grass as they chatted. Elyse and Michael had easily climbed up into a tree, Gavin opting to stay on the ground and let Lawrence teach him about the different flora and fauna.

It wasn’t long before Michael had become bored of the tree and climbed down, suggesting they play a game of pirates. Jeremy happily watched as Michael named himself Captain and gave each of the other kids crew titles before leading them around the clearing on an adventure. They played the game for so long that Jeremy had to look up between the trees the notice the sun was setting.

“Sorry to spoil your fun, guys, but it’s nearing 7pm which means we have to head back to camp.”  
Despite the campers collectively groaning and dropping their stick swords, they ran after Jeremy as he made his way back to the camp. The group emerged from the forest in fits of laughter as Elyse was adamant on telling some jokes, but the laughter died when they approached the flagpoles.

“Hey! Our box is empty!” Gavin squawked, speeding up his pace to reach the boxes.  
And he was right. Whilst the other boxes had plenty of items, all theirs were gone. They stood there in shock as Alfredo’s eyebrows furrowed and his fists clenched.  
“I know what happened to your stuff, c’mon!” he said then immediately began running. Jeremy had no choice but to jog after the kids that followed him.

They soon arrived at another cabin, this one in seemingly better condition from theirs. Alfredo threw open the door and stepped inside, gesturing for the others to follow. They crept inside, and Alfredo walked to the single bed.  
“Gonna need help to move this,” he muttered, and the others were immediately by his side, helping him push aside the bed. Once it had moved enough, Alfredo crouched and yanked at one of the floorboards, it coming off easily. Jeremy was about to step in and stop it when Gavin spoke.  
“It’s our stuff!” he announced, and the kids began pulling the items out from the space.  
“What are they doing here?” Trevor asked, and Alfredo sighed.  
“When Ryan had said he wanted some revenge on you guys for yesterday, I guess he wasn’t joking. He explained the plan to take your stuff earlier today but I barely paid attention,” he mumbled and, once all he items were out, they started to carry them back to the flagpoles.  
“How did you even know that’s where they would hide them?” Michael questioned, and Trevor stared down at his feet.  
“Alfredo used to have that bed before they moved the counsellors in with the campers. He’d steal some treats and hide them there until he could get them to me,” he confessed.

As they returned to their box, Michael rambled on about how they could enact revenge not stopping his insults about the Barracudas as they neared the flagpoles and saw them.  
“Alfredo, where have you-,” Ryan’s sentence was cut off when he spotted the items in their arms, a glare set on Alfredo’s face.  
“I’ve been hanging with my brother. That’s all,” he said and emptied his arms of stuff.  
“It’s a violation of camp rules to go into another team’s cabin!” Ryan’s voice raised, Jeremy crossing his arms over his chest.  
“Oh, yeah? Well, I’m pretty sure it’s a violation of the tournament rules to sabotage another team. How about we just let it be our little secret, hm?” he said smugly, holding his hand out.  
Ryan was shocked, hesitant about what they might be planning. But then Alfredo was yelling a greeting to a nearing Miles, Jack and Grizzly Bear team and Ryan was furiously shaking Jeremy’s hand.  
“Deal, Dooley,” he grumbled and ushered his team into some sort of order.   
Alfredo gave a quick squeeze to Trevor’s hand before joining the Barracuda’s again. The teams all gathered, waiting patiently as Miles checked all items and lists as the sun set.  
“Well, campers, it seems that the Barracuda’s have won this game. But the Platypus Pirates were a lose second. Whilst I put the points on the board, I suggest you go and enjoy the roast dinner waiting for you all.”

And with that, kids began to pile into the mess hall and chat about the day’s adventures. The usually separate tables had been joined together and the kids could sit wherever, mingling with others.   
Jeremy had sat himself at one end and his campers, calling themselves loyal crew members, sat with him and dragged Alfredo to join them. As they shared jokes and stories about previous years gone by, some even finally mentioning aspects of their home life to Jeremy, he figured that maybe this summer wasn’t going to be that bad.


End file.
